moth

Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

n. Any of numerous insects of the order Lepidoptera, generally distinguished from butterflies by their nocturnal activity, hairlike or feathery antennae, stout bodies, and the frenulum that holds the front and back wings together.

n. A clothes moth.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

n. A usually nocturnal insect of the order Lepidoptera, distinguished from butterflies by feather-like antennae.

v. To hunt for moths.

n. The plant Vigna aconitifolia, known as moth bean.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English

n. A mote.

n. Any nocturnal lepidopterous insect, or any not included among the butterflies

n. Any lepidopterous insect that feeds upon garments, grain, etc.. See these terms under Clothes, Grain, etc.

n. Any one of various other insects that destroy woolen and fur goods, etc., esp. the larvæ of several species of beetles of the genera Dermestes and Anthrenus. Carpet moths are often the larvæ of Anthrenus. See Carpet beetle, under Carpet, Dermestes, Anthrenus.

n. Anything which gradually and silently eats, consumes, or wastes any other thing.

from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

n. A nocturnal or crepuscular lepidopterous insect; a member of the order Lepidoptera and suborder Heterocera.

n. Any larva that destroys woolen fabrics.

n. Figuratively, one who or that which gradually and silently eats, consumes, or wastes anything.

n. An obsolete variant of mote.

n. In India, a trailing dwarf bean, Phaseolus aconitifolius, cultivated for food and fodder. Also called Turkish gram. See gram.

I used to write short things that I called poems. In several of these moths would come up. I think I liked them because they are fragile. I think I liked them because they are drawn to a light they circle but never reach, and that their attraction to it is a malfunction. They are not only nighttime butterflies, but their plainer cousins, the leaf to the flower. Therefore more beautiful.